Systems and Methods for Acquiring Biometric Information

ABSTRACT

The invention may be embodied as a fingerprint scanner having an ultrasonic wave detector, a platen, an ultrasonic wave generator located between the detector and the platen. The invention may be embodied as a method of scanning a finger. One such method includes providing a platen, a detector and a generator, the generator being placed between the platen and the detector. A finger may be provided on the platen, and an ultrasound wave pulse may be sent from the generator toward the finger. The wave pulse may be reflected from the finger, and received at the detector. The received wave pulse may be used to produce an image of the finger.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 11/245,883, filed on Oct. 7, 2005, which in turnclaims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 60/616,953, filed on Oct. 7, 2004, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to ultrasonic biometric readers, such asfingerprint scanners.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Since the 1800's fingerprint information has been collected from humanfingers and hands by means of ink and paper. For the purposes of thisdocument, the term “fingerprint” is used to mean the skin surfacefriction ridge detail of a portion of a hand, such as a singlefingerprint, or the entire hand. In recent years various electronicfingerprint scanning systems have been developed utilizing optical,capacitance, direct pressure, thermal and ultrasonic methods. Methodsbased on ultrasound have proven to be highly accurate, since they areinsulated from the effects of grease, dirt, paint, ink and other imagecontaminants.

In an ultrasonic system, a piezoelectric transducer may be used to sendan ultrasonic wave through an ultrasound transmitting media. Thedimensions of prior art ultrasonic scanners and the ultrasound emittersused in those prior art scanners are such that the emitter produces awave that emanates from a small location, and therefore, the emittersused in the prior art devices may be thought of as point sources of theultrasound energy.

In ultrasonic fingerprint scanners, the ultrasound wave is started andstopped to produce a pulse. At each material interface encountered bythe pulse, a portion of the pulse reflects. For example, the interfacebetween a platen and skin or the interface between air and skin may eachreflect a portion of the pulse. The fraction of ultrasound reflected isa function of differences in impedance between the two materialscomprising the interface. The fraction of ultrasound reflected can becalculated by the equation, R=((Z₁−Z₂)/(Z₁+Z₂))², where R is thefraction of sound reflected, Z₁ is the acoustic impedance of the firstmaterial and Z₂ is the acoustic impedance of the second material.Acoustic impedance is a measure of a material's resistance to thepropagation of ultrasound. Acoustic impedance, Z, is defined as Z=r·c,where r is the material density, and c is the longitudinal propagationvelocity of ultrasound in the material. The larger the change inacoustic impedance, the larger the fraction reflected.

The reflected wave pulses may be detected by a detector. The elapsedtime during which the pulse traveled from the ultrasound pulse emitterto the interface and back may be determined. The elapsed time may beused to determine the distances traveled by the pulse and its reflectedwave pulses. By knowing the distance traveled, the position of aninterface may be determined.

There may be many interfaces encountered by the emitted pulse, and sothere may be many reflected wave pulses. Since it is the interfacesassociated with a finger that are of interest in generating an image ofa fingerprint, it may be necessary to identify those reflected wavepulses that are associated with the finger. The approximate position ofa finger being scanned may be known, and therefore the pulse reflectedfrom the finger may be expected during a particular time interval. In atechnique commonly referred to as “range gating”, a detector may beconfigured to ignore reflected pulses that are not received during thattime interval. The reflected signals associated with the finger may beprocessed and converted to a digital value representing the signalstrength. The digital value may be used to produce a graphical displayof the signal strength, for example by converting the digital values toa gray-scale bitmap image, thereby producing a contour map of the fingersurface which is representative of the depth of the ridge structuredetail.

Although using ultrasound to produce an image of a fingerprint may besuperior in detail to a similar image collected by an optical system orother means, existing ultrasound systems have deficiencies. Collectinginformation using an ultrasound transducer is usually accomplished bymoving the ultrasound transducer side-to-side while advancing thetransducer in a direction that is different from the side-to-sidemotion. Such an arrangement is commonly referred to as a raster scanningprocess. As the raster scanning process proceeds, the ultrasound rasterscanning mechanism collects each pixel of image informationindividually, and records those pixels for use in generating an image ofthe fingerprint. The time required to collect a raster scannedultrasonic image may be longer than the time needed to collect anoptical image of the same size. Consequently, there is a need for afaster ultrasound scanner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device and method of capturing afingerprint image representing the friction ridge surface of a finger. Aplaten may be provided and a user may place his finger on the platen inorder to permit information to be gathered which may be used to createan image of the fingerprint. A plane pulse-wave generator may generatean ultrasound wave pulse and an ultrasonic wave detector may be used toreceive reflected ultrasound signals. The plane pulse-wave generator maybe located between the receiving device and the platen.

A phased array of piezoelectric transducer elements can be used to bothsteer and focus an ultrasound pulse to a target area pixel in a rasterscanning process. This may be attractive from a manufacturingperspective in that it may allow the electronic focusing and steering ofan ultrasound pulse and avoid the mechanical positioning and alignmentrequired in present ultrasound scanning systems.

In an embodiment of the invention, a platen and a finger may receiveultrasonic wave energy and the reflected energy may be detected andconverted to an image of the finger by means of an array of detectingelements. In a line array configuration, information about thefingerprint may be acquired by moving the line array detector andcollecting image information one line at a time. A line area detectormay be used with a line array generator or an area array generator. Asystem without moving components may be constructed and the finger maybe dragged across the platen to allow the image to be collected.Alternatively, by providing an area array detector and an area arraygenerator, an image may be obtained faster, and the user need not berequired to move his finger in order to facilitate image collection.

A fingerprint scanning system is disclosed herein which may be used tomeasure and image the friction ridge surface of a finger, to obtain animage that is representative of the ridge and valley structure of theskin on the finger. The scanning system may have (a) an imaging surface(sometimes referred to as a platen), which may be a substantially flatpiece of polished polycarbonate, that contacts the finger or fingersbeing imaged, and (b) a device for accurately measuring the reliefprofile of a skin surface that is in contact with the imaging surface bymeans of ultrasound transmitting and detecting devices and techniques.It should be noted that the embodiments described in this document arenot meant to limit the scope of the invention. Further, each embodimentdescribed in this document may function in either a direct reading modeor as a phased array mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention will now be described by way of non-limiting examples,with reference to the attached drawings and diagrams in which:

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a platen and a plane pulse-wavegenerator according to the invention;

FIG. 1B is similar to FIG. 1A, except a backing plate has been added;

FIG. 1C illustrates a prior art ultrasound device in which discretetransducers are used to send and receive ultrasound waves;

FIG. 1D illustrates plane waves traveling toward a detector comprised ofdiscrete detection elements according to the invention;

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of the invention in which a planepulse-wave generator is fixed to a platen and a line array ultrasounddetector is mounted on a linear actuator;

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of the invention in which the planepulse-wave generator and a line array detector are fixed to the platensurface;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of the invention that is similar to thatdepicted in FIG. 3, except the line array detector is spaced apart fromthe plane pulse-wave generator;

FIG. 6 depicts a platen and a line array ultrasound detector mounted ona flywheel that is capable of rotating in an angular fashion;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 depicts an arrangement according to the invention in which a linearray ultrasound detector is mounted on a cylinder that is capable ofoscillating in order to move the detector in an arcuate fashion;

FIG. 9 depicts an embodiment of the invention that is similar to thatshown in FIG. 8, except the arrangement in FIG. 9 includes a Fresnelsurface located between the plane pulse-wave generator and the detector;

FIG. 10 depicts an embodiment of the invention that is similar to thatshown in FIG. 9, except that a Fresnel grating is used;

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are side, bottom and end views of an embodimentof the invention that includes a line array plane pulse-wave generatorand a line array ultrasound detector that are both mounted on a moveablecarriage;

FIG. 11D is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 11A;

FIG. 12 depicts an embodiment of the invention which includes an areaarray plane pulse-wave generator and an area array ultrasound detector;

FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the device depicted in FIG. 12; and

FIG. 14 depicts a method according to the invention.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention may be embodied as a fingerprint scanner 10. Such ascanner 10 may have an ultrasonic wave detector 13, a platen 16 and anultrasonic wave generator 19 located between the detector 13 and theplaten 16. The generator 19 may include a piezoelectric film 22. Pulsewaves may be generated by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric film22 to expand or contract the film 22, depending upon the charge applied,to generate a plane pulse-wave. The voltage may be applied to the film22 via a first electrode 28 and a second electrode 31. In this fashion,an ultrasound wave pulse may be made by changing the volume occupied bythe film. This pulse-wave travels toward the finger, passes through theplaten 16, and is reflected from the finger 25, passes back through theplaten 16, through the first electrode 28, film 22, and second electrode31 until it strikes the detector 13.

The detector 13 and the generator 19 may be separated. A fluidictransmission medium 33 may be located between the detector 13 and thegenerator 19. Suitable fluidic transmission media 33 may have verydifferent viscosities, relative to each other. For example, one suitablefluidic transmission medium 33 may be mineral oil. Another suitablefluidic transmission medium 33 may be a gel comprised of vinylplastisol. Using a gel may have an advantage over less viscoustransmission media 33 because a gel is less prone to leak out of thescanner 10. For ease of reference, the term “fluidic transmissionmedium” is used to include many types of materials, including those thatare commonly described as gels.

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the platen 16 andgenerator 19 according to the invention. The generator 19 may include apiezoelectric film 22, a first metallic electrode layer 28 on a firstside of the film, and a second metallic electrode layer 31 on a secondside of the film 22. The metallic electrode layers 28, 31 may besputtered or otherwise attached to the film 22. The generator 19 may beattached to the platen 16 via an adhesive 37, such as an epoxy, atwo-part acrylic, or a cyanoacrylate super glue. For example, the firstmetallic electrode layer 28 may be attached to the platen 16 by anadhesive 37 that resides between the first electrode layer 28 and theplaten 16, so as to attach the first electrode layer 28 to the platen16. In such an embodiment, the platen 16 not only provides a surface onwhich a finger 25 may be placed, but also protects the generator 19,particularly from things that might damage the generator 19, likefingernails and jewelry.

FIG. 1B depicts an embodiment of the invention that is similar to thatshown in FIG. 1A. The embodiment of FIG. 1B includes a backing plate 38.The backing plate 38 may be fixed to the second electrode layer 31 by anadhesive 37 that resides between the second electrode layer 31 and thebacking plate 38. The backing plate 38 may direct more of the ultrasonicenergy from the film 22 toward the finger 25 than in the embodiment ofFIG. 1A. The backing plate 38 may be fixed to the platen 16, or thebacking plate 38 and the platen 16 may be arranged as an integral piece,thereby embedding the generator 19. The backing plate 38 may be madefrom the same material as the platen 16.

In prior art systems discrete transducer elements are used to both emitand detect an ultrasound pulse. Arrays of these discrete transducerelements are often used, and such arrays create wave interferenceproblems as a result of the discretely generated point sources of thewave pulses. The waves from transducers in the array can intersect andboth nullify or amplify each other as they interfere. FIG. 1C depicts aprior art device and illustrates ultrasonic waves emanating fromtransducer elements. Although the effects of wave interference can bereduced, for example by data manipulation using computer software and/orby including energy absorbing materials between transducer elements, itmay be simpler and cheaper to avoid wave interference by generating aplane wave pulse. The devices depicted in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B areexamples of such devices.

Since the piezoelectric film 22 may reside substantially in a plane, thewave generated by the film 22 may be used to generate a wave thatemanates in a planar fashion. FIG. 1D illustrates plane waves travelingtoward a detector 13 according to the invention. A device that producesa wave that emanates in a planar fashion is generically referred toherein as a “plane pulse-wave generator”. Such devices may have a lengthLg that is greater than a width Wg, and these generators 19 aregenerically referred to herein as “line array plane pulse-wavegenerators.” Generators 19 that have a length Lg that is similar to awidth Wg are generically referred to herein as “area array planepulse-wave generators.”

An array that might be used in a prior art device for the discreteelement transmitter/receiver could be used in the invention as adetector 13. In such an embodiment, the emitter capability of such atransducer would not be used. Additionally, a receive-only array thatmay be more fragile in construction than the transmit/receive arraycould also be used. Such arrays, both rugged and fragile types, areavailable from commercial sources and although not specifically designedfor fingerprinting systems are suitable for use in the invention as adetector 13.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting a fingerprint scanner 10 that utilizes aline array ultrasound detector 13 and a plane pulse-wave generator 19 asthe ultrasound source. A line array detector 13 may have a length Ldthat is greater than a width Wd of the line array detector 13. Forexample, the detector 13 may have a width that is only one pixel wideand a length that is more than 50 pixels to provide a length-to-widthratio greater than 50. In one embodiment of the invention, the detector13 may be attached to a linear actuator 40 so that the detector 13 maybe moved in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to thelength Ld of the detector 13 so as to gather information about differentlocations along a finger 25 that is being imaged. The detector 13 may bemoved in a plane that is substantially parallel to the platen 16, orsubstantially parallel to the generator 19, or both. By linearlytranslating the detector 13 relative to the platen 16 surface, thedetector 13 may collect image information about the fingerprint atdifferent locations, one line at a time. The plane pulse-wave generator19 may generate an ultrasound pulse as the line array detector 13advances, and with each pulse generated, a line of image information maybe collected by the detector 13. The space between the generator 19 andthe detector 13 may be filled with a fluidic ultrasound transmissionmedium 33 such as mineral oil.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 operates in a manner similar to that ofFIG. 2, but there are no mechanical moving parts in the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 3. The user moves his finger 25 over the platen 16 atan image line of the detector 13. Scanning may be accomplished byacquiring one line at a time of image information as the finger 25 isdragged across the platen 16. Motion of the finger 25 may be determinedoptically or by ultrasound using Doppler shift measurements, andemission of plane pulse-waves by the generator 19 may be synchronizedwith the motion of the finger 25. FIG. 4 shows the device of FIG. 3 fromthe bottom.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment similar to FIG. 3, except that the line arraydetector 13 is spaced apart from the pulse plane-wave generator 19. Thespace between the detector 13 and the generator 19 may be filled with afluidic transmission medium 33.

The embodiment of FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 may introduce distortions inthe skin caused by the dragging operation. However, it is believe suchdistortions should be minor. The information from the detector 13 may beelectronically altered in order to compensate for expected errors sothat the image does not include the distortions, or so as to reduce thedistortions. Alternatively, the distortions may be included as an errorin the image.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show an embodiment of the invention having a linearray detector 13 mounted on a rotatable wheel 43. A plane pulse-wavegenerator 19 may be located between the platen 16 and the detector 13. Amotor 46 may be used to rotate the wheel 43. A position monitoringdevice may be included and used to monitor the position of the detector13, for example, by monitoring the wheel's position. Suitable positionmonitoring devices may include a rotary optical encoder 49 and codewheel, resolver, or simply by timing pulses in a constant angularvelocity system.

The wheel 43 may be rotated so as to move the line array detector 13 inan angular fashion in a plane that is substantially parallel to theplaten 16. In this embodiment, the detector 13 may be angularly swept ina circle in order to gather data about the finger 25. While sweeping inan angular fashion, the detector 13 may be moved in a plane that issubstantially parallel to the platen 16, or substantially parallel tothe generator 19, or both.

FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment of the invention, which has a linearray ultrasound detector 13 mounted to a cylinder 52. The arrow 53identifies a path that the ultrasound pulse may take as it travels fromthe generator 19 to the detector 13. The cylinder 52 may be capable ofoscillating about an axis of rotation 55 that is substantially parallelto the platen 16, and thereby is capable of causing the detector 13 tomove arcuately. The arrow 58 identifies one direction in which thecylinder 52 may rotate, but it should be understood that the inventionmay be implemented in a manner wherein the cylinder 52 arcuately movesback and forth so that the detector 13 is always able to receivereflected ultrasound pulses. The axis of rotation 55 about which thedetector 13 moves may be oriented to be substantially parallel to theplaten 16 surface so that the distance between the detector 13 and theplaten 16 is substantially constant across the length of the detector 13for a particular arcuate position of the cylinder 52. The axis ofrotation 55 may be substantially parallel to the generator 19, or boththe platen 16 and the generator 19.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is similar to that of FIG. 8, but uses aprism 61 with a Fresnel surface to better direct the reflected pulses.This system may offer less signal loss than the embodiment depicted inFIG. 8 since the ultrasound pulse exits the prism 61 toward the detector13 in a substantially perpendicular manner, thereby minimizing theamount of energy reflected within the prism 61. The embodiment shown inFIG. 10 is similar to that in FIG. 9 but uses a cylindrical Fresnelgrating 64 instead of a prism 61. The Fresnel grating may be lessexpensive to manufacture than the prism.

FIGS. 11A, 11B, 11C and 11D depict a fingerprint scanner 10 having aplaten 16 and a movable carriage 67. The carriage 67 may have a camfollower 70 that engages a worm cam 73, and the worm cam 73 may beturned via a motor 46. By turning the worm cam 73, the carriage 67 iscaused to move from one end of the housing 76 to another end of thehousing 76.

The carriage 67 may have mounted thereon a line array ultrasounddetector 13 and a plane pulse-wave generator 19. The generator 19 mayhave a width that is only one pixel wide and a length that is more than50 pixels, to provide a length-to-width ratio greater than 50. Thecarriage 67 may be translated near the platen 16 and submerged in afluidic ultrasound transmitting medium 33, such as mineral oil. Such asystem may be programmed to acquire image information in either or both,directions of travel.

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 show a finger scanner 10 according to the invention.An area array ultrasound detector 13 and an area array ultrasound planepulse-wave generator 19 are shown. In an area array detector 13, alength Ld of the detector 13 is similar to a width of the detector 13.The subject's finger 25 may be placed on the platen 16, a pulse may begenerated by the plane pulse-wave generator 19, and each pixel elementof the area array detector 13 may detect a single pixel of imageinformation from the pulse echo. In this embodiment of the invention,the surface of the finger 25 that is in contact with the platen 16 maybe imaged in a single event without the need for the user to drag hisfinger 25 across the platen 16. In this embodiment, there are nofingerprint distortion effects as would be the case in the embodiment ofFIG. 3 or FIG. 5.

It should be noted that the embodiments of FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG.11 and FIG. 12 illustrate how the invention might be implemented so thatthe position of the detector 13 and a position of the generator 19 arefixed relative to each other. FIG. 11 depicts an arrangement in whichthe detector 13 and the generator 19 move while the finger 25 to beimaged remains stationary in order to gather information about thefinger 25. In that arrangement, the detector 13 and the generator 19 maybe linearly movable in a plane that is substantially parallel to theplaten 16. In such an embodiment, the distance between the generator 19and the platen 16 may be substantially fixed across the range ofmovement of the generator 19. By contrast, the embodiments of FIG. 3,FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 contemplate movement of the finger 25 across theplaten 16. In this manner, the generator 19 and the detector 13 may bestationary. Such an embodiment of the invention has the advantage ofusing relatively fewer moving parts, which should translate into lowermaintenance costs and greater reliability. FIG. 12 has the advantagethat the generator 19 and the detector 13 may be stationary, andmovement of the finger 25 is not required. The arrangement of FIG. 12should provide a system having lower maintenance costs, greaterreliability and fewer image distortions.

The invention may be embodied as a method. FIG. 14 depicts one suchmethod in which a platen, detector and generator may be provided 100.The generator may be provided between the platen and the detector. Afinger may be provided 103 on the platen. An ultrasound wave pulse maybe sent 106 from the generator toward the finger. The wave pulse may bereflected 109 from the finger toward to the detector. The reflectedultrasound wave pulse may be received 112 from the finger, and thereceived wave pulse may be used 115 to produce an image of the finger.

The method may be carried out such that sending the ultrasound wavepulse includes expanding a film, such as the piezoelectric filmdescribed above. In such a method, the film may be expanded by applyinga voltage difference across the film.

The detector may be moved relative to the platen in order to receivereflected ultrasound wave pulses from different parts of the finger. Inthis manner, information about different parts of the finger may begathered by the detector and used to produce an image of the finger. Forexample, the detector may be moved angularly in a plane that issubstantially parallel to the platen. In another embodiment of theinvention, the detector may be moved arcuately about an axis that isparallel to the platen. The detector may also be moved linearly.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to one ormore particular embodiments, it will be understood that otherembodiments of the present invention may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present invention. Hence, the presentinvention is deemed limited only by the appended claims and thereasonable interpretation thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for acquiring biometric information,comprising: an ultrasonic wave generator; and an ultrasonic area-arraydetector fixed relative to the ultrasonic wave generator.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wave generator is an area-arraygenerator.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wavegenerator includes a piezoelectric film.
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein the ultrasonic wave generator includes a first electrode layeron a first side of the piezoelectric film.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein the ultrasonic wave generator includes a second electrode layeron a second side of the piezoelectric film.
 6. The system of claim 1,further comprising a transmission medium located between the ultrasonicwave generator and the ultrasonic area-array detector.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising a platen, wherein the platen is fixedrelative to the ultrasonic wave generator or the ultrasonic area-arraydetector.
 8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a backing platefixed relative to the ultrasonic wave generator or the ultrasonicarea-array detector.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the ultrasonicarea-array detector is substantially parallel to the generator.
 10. Asystem for acquiring biometric information, comprising: an ultrasonicwave generator; and an ultrasonic area-array detector that is: (a) fixedrelative to the ultrasonic wave generator, and (b) substantiallyparallel to the ultrasonic wave generator.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the ultrasonic wave generator is an area-array generator. 12.The system of claim 10, wherein the ultrasonic wave generator includes apiezoelectric film.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the ultrasonicwave generator includes a first electrode layer on a first side of thepiezoelectric film.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the ultrasonicwave generator includes a second electrode layer on a second side of thepiezoelectric film.
 15. The system of claim 10, further comprising atransmission medium located between the ultrasonic wave generator andthe ultrasonic area-array detector.
 16. The system of claim 10, furthercomprising a platen, wherein the platen is fixed relative to theultrasonic wave generator or the ultrasonic area-array detector.
 17. Thesystem of claim 10, further comprising a backing plate fixed relative tothe ultrasonic wave generator or the ultrasonic area-array detector. 18.A system for acquiring biometric information, comprising: an ultrasonicwave generator having a piezoelectric film; and an ultrasonic area-arraydetector fixed relative to the generator.
 19. The system of claim 18,wherein the ultrasonic wave generator is an area-array generator. 20.The system of claim 18, wherein the ultrasonic wave generator includes afirst electrode layer on a first side of the piezoelectric film.
 21. Thesystem of claim 20, wherein the ultrasonic wave generator includes asecond electrode layer on a second side of the piezoelectric film. 22.The system of claim 18, further comprising a transmission medium locatedbetween the ultrasonic wave generator and the ultrasonic area-arraydetector.
 23. The system of claim 18, further comprising a platen,wherein the platen is fixed relative to the ultrasonic wave generator orthe ultrasonic area-array detector.
 24. The system of claim 23, whereinthe platen includes a polycarbonate layer.
 25. A method of acquiringbiometric information comprising the steps of: sending an ultrasonicwave from an ultrasonic wave generator; receiving a reflected wave at anultrasonic area-array detector fixed relative to the ultrasonic wavegenerator; and acquiring the biometric information based on thereflected wave.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the ultrasonic wavegenerator includes a piezoelectric film, and the step of sending theultrasonic wave includes a sub-step of changing the volume of thepiezoelectric film.
 27. The method of claim 25, wherein thepiezoelectric film volume is changed by applying a voltage differenceacross the piezoelectric film, and wherein the ultrasonic wave generatorincludes a first electrode layer on a first side of the piezoelectricfilm and a second electrode layer on a second side of the piezoelectricfilm, and wherein the voltage difference is applied across the firstelectrode layer and the second electrode layer.
 28. The method of claim25, further comprising the step of: generating a plane pulse-wave withthe ultrasonic wave generator.
 29. The method of claim 25, furthercomprising the steps of: placing a finger on the surface of the platen;and using the received wave to produce an image of the finger.
 30. Themethod of claim 25, further comprising the step of measuring a reliefprofile of a skin surface that is in contact with the surface of theplaten.